Fraud Ring
Don't consign us to history, plead island states at Cancún - guardian.co.uk
Every country in the Caribbean faces huge economic losses caused by rising sea levels over the coming decades, losing hospitals, airports, power plants, multi-million dollar tourism resorts, roads, bridges and farmland, according to a UN report.
Diplomats from the 43 Caribbean, African and Pacific nations grouped as Aosis (Alliance of small island states) at the UN climate talks in Cancún said that they faced "the end of history" if rich countries did not raise their ambition to hold temperatures well below 2C.
Aosis will next week announce details of a deal to promote low-carbon economic growth for 17 small island states, backed by a group of developed nations as part of "fast-start" aid for the poor that was agreed at last year's Copenhagen talks – meant to total $30bn from 2010-21.
Although present rates of global sea level rise are not yet approaching one metre per century, they are observed to be accelerating in response to increased global warming.
Fraud Act 2006The Act gives a statutory definition of the criminal offence of fraud, defining it in three classes - fraud by false representation, fraud by failing to disclose information, and fraud by abuse of position. It provides that a person found guilty of fraud was liable to a fine or imprisonment for up to twelve months on summary conviction (six months in Northern Ireland), or a fine or imprisonment for up to ten years on conviction on indictment.
"Fraud by false representation" is defined by Section 2 of the Act as a case where a person makes "any representation as to fact or law ... express or implied" which they know to be untrue or misleading.
"Fraud by failing to disclose information" is defined by Section 3 of the Act as a case where a person fails to disclose any information to a third party when they are under a legal duty to disclose such information.
"Fraud by abuse of position" is defined by Section 4 of the Act as a case where a person occupies a position where they are expected to safeguard the financial interests of another person, and abuses that position; this includes cases where the abuse consisted of an omission rather than an overt act.
In all three classes of fraud, it requires that for an offence to have occurred, the person must have acted dishonestly, and that they had to have acted with the intent of making a gain for themselves or anyone else, or inflicting a loss (or a risk of loss) on another.
"Book 'em, Danno"